Familiarity makes Padres infield stronger

San Diego Padres' Jedd Gyorko forces out Arizona Diamondbacks' Josh Wilson as he turns a double play on Gerardo Parra during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Saturday, May 25, 2013, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)
— AP

San Diego Padres' Jedd Gyorko forces out Arizona Diamondbacks' Josh Wilson as he turns a double play on Gerardo Parra during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Saturday, May 25, 2013, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)
/ AP

At shortstop: Jason Bartlett, Everth Cabrera, even small doses of Amarista and Forsythe.

Up the middle: not a ton of stability, to say the least. Forsythe and Cabrera would eventually became the regulars at second and short, but after their shaky start, the Padres finished 2012 second-to-last in the majors in both errors (121) and fielding percentage (.980). Only the Colorado Rockies fared worse in those categories.

Say this for the 2013 Padres: A budding familiarity has transformed the infield, now humming along as one of the National League’s best. Aside from the 14 games Headley missed with a fractured thumb, this year’s defense has, more or less, started the same faces at the same positions across the dirt.

“I think it’s every bit as good as any other infield we’ve had,” said Headley, who won a Gold Glove last season, his fifth, with the Padres. “I think in 2010 we did a really good job as well, but I wouldn’t say it was any better than this. I think that if we do this for 162 games, we’ll be right up there, maybe even a little better.”

The standard from three years ago is lofty. In 2010 the Padres — employing such gloves as Headley, Adrian Gonzalez and David Eckstein — ranked second in fielding percentage (.988), behind only the New York Yankees.

But again, the Padres infield has rediscovered stability, beginning with Headley, its senior member.

“Individually, guys have put in a lot of work to improve themselves and be consistent,” said Headley, who despite his current slump at the plate has yet to waver in the field. "But knowing who you’re playing with, understanding where you’re gonna be on the field, it definitely helps.”

Starting every day to Headley’s left has been Cabrera, quite possibly on a Gold Glove path himself. The fleet-footed shortstop has been a Padres fixture since last May’s promotion from Triple-A Tucson.

“I don’t think I’ve seen a better shortstop this year in terms of defensive range and the plays he’s made,” said catcher Nick Hundley. “He’s been our MVP so far, in my opinion.

Cabrera’s dancing partner on many of those two-for-ones has been a converted third baseman — and a rookie at that. Jedd Gyorko’s played a fine second base this season, as much a result of his own growth at the position as his growing familiarity with his infield mates.

“I think it’s gone a lot faster than we could’ve hoped for,” said Gyorko, who has looked more comfortable at second than at third, where he filled in during Headley’s early absence. “Especially the chemistry between me and Cabby has gotten a lot better since spring training.”

Gyorko has also been in constant communication with Alonso, now in his second season with the Padres. While that season has been put on hold — Alonso is expected to miss at least a month after going on the disabled list Thursday with a fractured right hand — the first baseman had become increasingly adept at digging out throws and fielding his position.

“With Gyork, I worked extremely hard on that,” Alonso said recently. “We had a lot of talks, a lot of communication. Once we got going and we realized what our weaknesses and our strengths are, then we just got into it.

“It works to your favor, obviously, when you have the same guys playing every single day.”

(In Alonso's stead, the Padres will use Kyle Blanks, Mark Kotsay and Jesus Guzman at first).

Entering Saturday, the Padres were right on their 2010 pace, successfully fielding at a .989 clip. Just eight of their 26 errors had been committed by their starting infield quartet.

“It can still be better. You learn every single day as you go,” said Alonso, who before landing on the DL had only one error to his name. “I think you’ll see a lot better defense eventually as the year goes on.”